1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for transferring data from an application engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A workflow program allows businesses and other organizations to define their business operations as a computer model known as a workflow. A workflow defines a series of processes to be performed by users at a client computer. The user activities at the client computers may involve updating an electronic form, reviewing information, etc. After one user in the workflow performs a specified action, the work item or other information is then routed to one or more further nodes where further action may be taken. For instance, an on-line purchase of a product may involve numerous steps, such as receiving the customer order, routing the customer order to the credit department to process the bill and then routing the order to the shipment department to prepare the shipment. Once the shipment is prepared, the product may be shipped and information on the purchase is then transferred to the customer service department to take any further action. Each of these processes may be defined as nodes in a workflow. A workflow program would then route the customer order to the business agents designated to handle the job. For instance, the initial order would be received by the order department and then routed to a person in shipping and billing. Once the bill and package are prepared, a further invoice may be forwarded to shipping. After shipping sends the package, the shipping agent may then enter information into the invoice and forward the electronic invoice to customer service for any follow up action.
A workflow is designed using workflow software, such as the International Business Machines (IBM) MQSeries Workflow software product. Often application programs that interface with a workflow engine require information on workflows operating at the workflow engine. The process of transferring information from the workflow engine to an application over a network can take a considerable amount of time and burden network resources given the large size of data used to describe workflows available at a workflow engine.
For these reasons, there is a need in the art to provide improved techniques for providing information on workflow and other services available in a network environment to application programs.